Shorter Line or Faster Speed?

[BrennanKMN]

Howdy everyone. I have a question for some of the more experienced slalom folks out there. I am a 21 year old that has self taught myself to ski the course. I can run 15 and 22 off pretty consistently at 31 MPH. I have been working on 28 off this year and so far I have made it around ball 5 at 31 MPH.

 

I almost never adjust the speed on perfect pass, I set it at 31 and leave it. Each set I run one pass at 15 off and a few at 22 and jump into 28 before I'm too tired. I'd like to get into tournament skiing after I graduate college and live in one place again. That means I will need to be skiing at 36 MPH. Should I knock the line back to 15 off and work my way up in speed or keep training like I am and work up in speed at all line lengths?

 

I am not sure what is the best way to get to an M1 level. I think the worst part of this is I only have a week left before my last pass of the season. Going back to school sucks :(

 

I'd love to get some real coaching for my skiing, but there isn't a whole lot of formal training available in Minnesota.

[markchilcutt]

Get to your max speed then start to shorten.

[ral]

If competition is your goal, you should increase speed and start running buoys at 36. It is a totally different game from 31 to 36.

 

You can get free advice here by posting video...

[klindy]

What school do you go to? The Midwest has a LOT of schools with waterski teams. See if your school has one!

[tbrenchley]

There is no sense in learning how to ski 28 and 32 off at 31mph if you want to compete...it's not even close to the same thing as 36mph. Start with the same opener you're used to and instead of shortening the rope increase your speed each time until you get to max speed. I would not just just up to 36 mph at first but it shouldn't take you long to drop your 31mph starting speed

[BrennanKMN]

@klindy‌

I go to school in upstate NY (Rochester) but live at home (Minneapolis) during the summer. I'd love to ski at while at school in NY but there doesn't seam to be much of a following around there. They have Hidden Pass in Penfield, but I don't know anybody to contact there.

 

MN has a better following, but it is hard to get involved in the 3 months I'm home.

 

 

Thanks all for the advice. I will start working my speed up at the 15 off length and see where I get. I am hoping .5 MPH increments should be okay.

[tbrenchley]

how you increment speed will be up to you but I would just use the normal adjustments of 32.3, 34.2 and 36mph. If you really want to progress even faster post a video of your skiing, there are a lot of guys that are very good at helping you progress to the next level on here.

[Deke]

@BrennanKMN‌ you should take a look at this thread http://www.ballofspray.com/forum#/discussion/10827/should-i-forget-about-15-and-22-this-year-how-stupid-is-this-idea

The opinions here differ greatly from many in that thread.